Existing infrastructure for electric vehicle charging is often limited. For example, although some parking facilities may provide charging stations, the number of electric vehicles desiring to use the charging stations may be greater than the number of charging stations.
Additionally, parking in urban environments is often limited. Multi-level parking garages increase parking space by allowing multiple vehicles to occupy the same geographic coordinates. Multi-level parking garages, however, also use a lot of available space for roads and ramps that are needed to access each level. Further, multi-level parking garages, for example, those located beneath office buildings, may not have optimal dimensions for parking cars. Moreover, as parking facilities add charging stations to accommodate electric vehicles, fewer parking spaces may be available for other vehicles.
One solution for increasing parking spaces is to allow tandem parking. In a tandem parking scenario two or more cars are parked end-to-end. Walls, columns or other vehicles may be located to the sides of the tandem parked cars. Accordingly, tandem parking increases the number of vehicles that may be parked in a given space. Usually, the first car to park in a tandem spot is blocked from exiting the parking spot by a subsequent (e.g., second, third, etc.) car. This creates a situation where the first car waits for a driver(s) of the subsequent car(s) to remove their vehicles before the first car may exit the parking spot. A driver of the first car may be unable to contact the driver(s) of the subsequent car(s) and may be unable to move the first car. Further exasperating this problem, a multi-level parking facility may have poor reception of radio-frequency signals, limiting available communication options.
Tandem parking may also be used in relation to an electric vehicle charging station. A vehicle may park in tandem with a vehicle that is charging. Additionally, electric vehicles requesting to use a charging station may form a queue in tandem with a vehicle currently using the charging station. The tandem vehicles, however, may block the charging vehicle and may not be aware of the timing of when the first vehicle is finished charging.
In view of the foregoing, tandem parking systems and methods that provide the ability to contact the blocking vehicle are provided. Further advantages will become apparent from the disclosure provided below.